dropdfun:OgreMagi: Three things need to happen if the cops ever want to regain the trust of the public.

1. Stop covering for bad cops.2. No more immunity. You knowingly fark up on the job, you are personally responsible.3. Cop unions stops protecting bad cops. In fact, cops shouldn't have a farking union at all.

OgreMagi:Three things need to happen if the cops ever want to regain the trust of the public.

1. Stop covering for bad cops.2. No more immunity. You knowingly fark up on the job, you are personally responsible.3. Cop unions stops protecting bad cops. In fact, cops shouldn't have a farking union at all.

The city resident provided a photo to The Trentonian of the facial injuries from the punch he says he received in the alleged incident.

Green also went to St. Francis Medical Center early Sunday morning seeking treatment for his injuries after he was released from police custody.

Hospital records, provided by Green, show that he sustained a bruise from the alleged beating.

"I can't even eat a full sandwich," Green said Thursday. "As soon as I open my mouth, it's in pain."

Green, who works for Walmart in Hamilton, said he had just gotten off the bus and was walking the rest of the way home on Chambers Street near Ashmore Avenue, when he was stopped by Trenton police because they were responding to a report of a man with a gun.

The only thing police found on the shipping and receiving employee was a safety knife that he is required to carry at work to open boxes, Green said.

Walmart did not immediately respond to comment about its policy regarding safety knives.

Green said it was in his pocket - like it always is - when he's not on the clock at the store.

Cops can be heard asking him if he pulled the safety knife on somebody or was playing with it.

Green responds "no" to both questions.

"Sir, I do not have a gun," Green says. "I don't even own a gun."

Green said he was in police custody for two hours and was given the option to stay in jail until Monday or receive a ticket for disorderly conduct.

The Mercer High School graduate said he opted to take the ticket signed by Trenton police officer Luis E. Cosme.

Green claims he knew he did nothing wrong because a police officer told him if he showed up to the court, the charges would be dropped.

The offense summary obtained by The Trentonian states, "Listed party did yell and curse at officers while conducting an investigation of a man with a gun."

In the audio recording, police can be heard telling Green to "shut up" numerous times.

"Shut the (expletive) up and let us do our job. You understand me?" the cop who allegedly struck Green says afterwards. "That's my (expletive) badge number right in your (expletive) mouth."

Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. did not return a call for comment.

This is the third reported incident of excessive force used by Trenton police during the last year and a half.

In February 2012, video from La Guira Bar captured city police officers allegedly using excessive force in two arrests.

There are pending civil lawsuits against the city and the Trenton Police Department for the actions of the officers that night. Officer Nidia Colon is also facing criminal official misconduct charges for her role in one arrest.

In December 2012, Steven Jennette ended up in a coma for two days after being taken into custody by Trenton police.

Jennette remembers being punched and sprayed with pepper spray by city police before waking up at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton.

An internal affairs investigation was initiated after that incident, but the outcome remains unknown.

The audio adds a lot of credibility to the allegation made by the defendant. He is lucky the police didn't notice him recording and delete the file. That happens all the time.

Of course, the ACLU of New Jersey has developed a phone app that allows you to record audio or viedo without appearing that a recording is being made. The app also records the footage to a difficult to locate ocation on the phone, and allegedly uploads the same to the ACLU computer servers, which prevents deletion by law enforcement.

theknuckler_33:The problem, I think, is that cops assume everyone is a threat.

Ha ha, are you seriously having that hard of a time identifying with the experience of being able to treat everyone you interact with like a personal slave? The guy working at 7-11 overnight is in more danger than a cop working the same shift in the same neighborhood. The guy at the 7-11 greets me with a friendly "hello" when I walk in. Why? Because there is an expectation that he will, and consequences to him if he defies that expectation. Cops use the excuse that their behavior is a survival mechanism, and they are victims of their environment. They are, in that their environment allows for them to act the way many people would like to. It's a luxury, not a survival tactic.

Barricaded Gunman:it's the cop's expectation that I'm supposed to go into Step-N-Fetchit mode

Cops don't think you're brave for talking back, they think you're stupid. Because if they admitted that standing up to them was heroic, what would that make their role in the situation? So, it's not that you're standing up to a bully, it's that you're too stupid to know what you're in for as a consequence and how little impact it will have on the way things work. Demanding human decency and respect from everyone around you is supposed to be a virtue, but cops think it makes you an idiot. Isn't that galling?

theknuckler_33:If they do that, stop someone that resembles the description, and the first reaction of that person is to be belligerent, it is not difficult to see that the cops might be suspicious that that person might actually be the 'man with a gun' and therefore possibly dangerous.

When are cops going to realize that when they stop someone who is doing something else that their presence is unwelcome? Almost every police encounter begins, from the perspective of the citizen, with 100% too many cops. It's not like people are going into the police station and walking up to the front desk and being jerks. Cops are seeking people out and forcing them to stop what they're doing and interact with them.

theknuckler_33:You know, I'm not condoning the way the cops handled this situation (or any number of other incidents we see here on Fark), but I have a serious question. If a report of a man with a gun comes in, can we all agree that the police should look into the matter? If the call gave only a vague description of the man's appearance, what, exactly, are police to do to look into the matter? I can't really see how they have any other option but to stop anyone that resembles, even slightly, the description given in the call reporting the man with the gun.

If they do that, stop someone that resembles the description, and the first reaction of that person is to be belligerent, it is not difficult to see that the cops might be suspicious that that person might actually be the 'man with a gun' and therefore possibly dangerous.

For one, it depends on what exactly the man was doing with the gun. If he's legally exercising his 2nd amendment rights, the police should ignore the call and tell the concerned citizen to STFU. If he's waving it around like a madman, yeah the cops better get out there.

That said, just going to the general area and questioning all the black dudes is kind of a problem. They'd have to just keep an eye out, and make a more solid ID than "20 year old black guy" before interrogating a suspect.Or just walking up to any nearby civilian (or any nearby civilian) and saying "hey, we got reports of a guy with a gun...you seen him?" wouldn't be unreasonable.

Three things need to happen if the cops ever want to regain the trust of the public.

1. Stop covering for bad cops.2. No more immunity. You knowingly fark up on the job, you are personally responsible.3. Cop unions stops protecting bad cops. In fact, cops shouldn't have a farking union at all.

Why is not relevant. It's possible he used that excuse to cover up that he purposely recorded the cops since he knew what assholes they are. But since a cop performing his duties has no expectation of privacy, that white lie was unnecessary, though probably prudent given their history of thuggish behavior.